ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a heart rate deceleration biofeedback (HRD BF) mental training protocol method and an intervention efficiency and efficacy testing experiment. The manifestation of Heart Rate Deceleration (HRD) has been shown to precede a cascade of performance facilitative mind-body-motor/technical responses. It predominates in the pre-action phase of competition in the absence of perceived competitive pressure/stress. HRD can be considered a valid and reliable biomarker of pre-action psychological and psychophysiological readiness. The ability to obtain time locked mind-body response data during real competition offers unprecedented insight into comprehensive sport-specific psychophysiological response dynamics. All athletes, regardless of their Athlete’s Profile should be educated about pre-action HRD dynamics and their peak performance. They should be taught how to volitionally set-off the brain-heart-mind-body cascade that leads to the onset of HRD. HRD has been shown to occur in virtually all athletes in numerous sports that have pre-action phases in which an athlete must either respond to an impending stimulus or initiate a response.
